


Shelter

by GraydleRabbit



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post-Canon, Rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28031775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GraydleRabbit/pseuds/GraydleRabbit
Summary: What do you do when you're an alien abandoned on Earth without a home and six other mouths to feed? Ryouga is stubborn, and IV cares a little too much.
Relationships: IV | Thomas Arclight & Kamishiro Ryouga
Kudos: 8





	Shelter

**Author's Note:**

> I think IV and Ryouga have nice but untapped chemistry with each other.

IV found him huddling under a bus stop in the late afternoon as the heavy downpour came from the dark and thickened skies. It reminded him of that specific day long ago—not too long, actually; it was a couple of weeks ago at the bare minimum, but he recalled it with a type of fondness, a type of nostalgia present only to the old and world-weary.

That day… The murky clouds forming and light thunder rumbling. It wasn't supposed to rain. The forecast called for clear and sunny skies, but alien assimilation cared little about mother nature. That scene found itself seared into his mind despite his fading sight—the grayness and bleakness, then that purply bastard stuck his ugly mug into the frame. His breath was drawing out of him, and his arms refused to move. IV was too weak, too defeated, to crane his head so his last sight ended up being of that Barian Emperor—Nasch.

No, _Ryouga_.

According to III, Ryouga preferred his eldest name, Nasch, out of respect for his proper heritage. Nasch… It rolled off his tongue poorly, and it felt like he was retching every time he muttered that name— _Nasch_.

IV abided for some time, but then IV realized that no one else cared about what he rather be called. Yuma and his friends still declared him as the bad-boy Shark; his barian buddies always as their King Nasch, except for Rio who opted for Ryouga, adding onto this confusing mess of a hodgepodge; the other Arclights and Tenjos preferred Ryouga too.

Well, IV argued that god was a long, yellow dragon named Kaito; the Universe made no sense and was soundly unfair, so Ryouga it was.

He approached him with an oversized umbrella overhead, plainly curious as to why this noble Emperor was relaxing on a gum-infested bench of all places. His motorcycle was parked next to him—half of it soaking wet, the other half shoved under the shade. School ended hours ago, and he was sure that the guy had better things to do than to mope in the rain.

"What’sa guppy doing out here all by himself?" purred IV with the charisma of his Duel Champion persona like he was courting his prey, but it lacked the proper words that accompanied his mannerism.

"Go away," grumbled Ryouga without glancing up from the screen of his scuffed and beaten duel-disk. IV scoffed. It looked as old as the barian's true age; he should purchase the latest model for the guy in the near future.

"Me? I'm wounded. I've come all this way to visit and this is how you treat me?" IV whined as his eyebrows furrowed and mouth curled into frown, yet a closer examination easily revealed the playful sadism present in him always.

His eyes shot up, glaring at the Arclight with all the intensity of a bloodthirsty shark. He looked like he was about to retort something snarky and Ryouga-like, something appropriate for this conversation and similar to how they interacted back during their duel with the jellyman. Casual, but rough. Hateful, but loving. It was how they were, and they knew that.

But whatever Ryouga wanted to say, he didn't.

IV clicked his tongue.

He gazed behind him and watched the streets flood with water. Droplets fell off the curvature of his umbrella, and he tilted it to the side to prevent it from pouring into the barian's den. The rumbling above and the clashing below were loud, and if IV didn't speak up, the other man could easily tune out his soft-spoken words.

"I'm offering you a place to stay." It lacked the cutting edge that IV usually spoke in. The mannerism of a gentleman, as well as something more sincere, than the barrage of compliments that IV gave out during his fanservice. "Seven bedrooms with a private bathroom each, fully-stocked kitchen, unlimited wifi, every streaming service out there, get it?"

Ryouga looked up. He saw the seriousness in IV's eyes, and he didn't doubt that the man was toying with him as he always did. But instead of blatantly accepting the generous offer, the Barian Emperor bared his teeth and growled, "What kinda game are ya playin' at, Arclight?"

It was so accusatory! Like there was a catch to his generous offer. There must be a catch because IV was not a good person, and IV behaved on the will of his own selfish desires or that of someone else. IV was not a good person. At least, not to Ryouga who knew his cruel nature so well.

IV shrugged. "Nothing." He glanced to the side. "Beats living in the streets…"

Anger lit up in his expression, and IV wondered if he said the wrong thing. It was no secret that the Kamishiros and the former barians were homeless. Prior to this, Ryouga lived within the living quarters of the hospital when his sister was recovering from her injuries—all of the it—but after she got out, after the barian invasion, after their revival, the twins went back to their habit of sleeping at the docks or abandoned factories. IV heard they hung around the musky mansion, too, in all its rat-infested and mold-ridden state. It couldn’t be good for their developing bodies, but he wondered if they cared that much. After all, their current bodies were only one of the countless forms they received thus far.

Friends constantly offered them a place to stay—especially Yuma, Kotori, and Gauche and Droite, having cared for the purple alien boy after his arm snapped in half and his guts were pouring all over the floor during the World Duel Carnival, relinquished their old apartment within the main city walls to them—but the twins consistently refused. They'll be a burden. Not only them, but the whole slew of people they cared for, the other Emperors, who were equally homeless. If Nasch and Merag found a place to stay, they couldn't live with themselves if they left their allies on the streets.

"You'd think I'd just accept your pity?" snarled the man, slowly sizing up to the older and taller human. Practically so, given that Ryouga had the mentality of a prideful, war-trodden king that ruled over two kingdoms. IV was but a mite to him. "All the suffering your nutjob of a family put me through, and you have the audacity to offer me a place to stay? I know it's to make yourself feel better about fucking with my life!"

IV hummed lightly as he stepped backwards one or two times, giving his raging companion space to vent. "I apologize for that."

Because the attention Ryouga could’ve gotten from becoming a champion at the National Circuit could've furthered his young career. Or it could've gathered enough money to rent an apartment, to put food on the table, to care for his sister. Instead, he was foiled by a one-eyed sadist with daddy issues.

“You apologize.” He growled, voice oozing with venom.

"But Ryouga…" drawled IV, thinking about his words carefully. "I'm asking because you're my friend."

"Again with that shit—I told you we are not and never were friends!" Ryouga stepped forward with his fist raised and poised for brawl. Like he intended to scare off the other teenager with brute force and aggression alone. IV didn't budge an inch this time.

The man responded with a friendly grin. "Of course not, but too bad I'm the disobedient one, aren't I?" His grin widened when the Barian rolled his eyes, but the raging hatred in him diminished ever-so-slightly. The onslaught months prior cemented Ryouga's true relationship to IV, and IV never forgot that tidbit even if he had to die another time. "My family isn't unsympathetic, Ryouga. We just had a very convincing, must-follow agenda, and now that everything is said and done, I'm left as wealthy as ever, and you," he gestured to the gangster with his index and middle finger, "have nothing."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, jackass."

The man placed his free hand over his heart. He leaned forward with a cheeky smile. "It would be cruel of me to abandon my one and only friend after all we horrible Arclights done to you and your sister. This'll at least make up for the disqualification."

Ryouga scoffed again, shaking his head with a smiling cracking through his tough shell. "In your dreams." The man paused for a second, then he demanded, "Who set you up?"

IV flinched at the sudden accusation. "My father," answered the Arclight with a sigh, not expecting the alien to catch on so quickly. He never was the one to pull the strings in any plans, after all. But he quickly added, "and me, to an extent." To prove that he wanted to better his relationship with the duelist, and he truly did.

‘Tron?’ Ryouga thought back to that creepy little man. From puppeteering IV to obliterate his life, injuring his sister in a deadly fire, injecting him with a dangerous Number, and hypnotizing him to do his bidding, Ryouga never would've thought that Tron instigated IV to discuss the housing market with him. Knowing that the eldest of this dysfunctional family was behind this scheme made Ryouga so much more skeptical of the offer.

IV noticed his confusion, so he continued, "It's because of you barians that my family is back together, you know."

"Huh?" Ryouga raised his eyebrows.

He nodded. "Mhm. As you know, my father was stranded in Barian World, and well… the barians saved him. Got him back to the human world, and here we are." IV waved a hand, like he was skimming through the important details about this matter. Then it clicked in him. "You and Rio weren't part of it,” IV elaborated, “Your weird buddies were. Tron is still a grateful bastard for your entire race for saving his life, and I think we all know how he is."

"So your old man, huh?"

Ryouga smirked at the thought of Tron convincing the brothers to host the former Barian Emperors. He could see IV and Tron vouching for the Emperors, while someone like that stick-in-the-mud V would be scolding them. They simply don't have the patience to take in platoon of dirty, thuggish, alien-bred teenagers, he’d berate. Maybe III would join the side of the barians because that kid always bore this etching for them, like he was intrigued by their mysterious nature, or his desire to study more about history through the eyes of the ancient heroes. At some point, V must've given in to their efforts with an exasperated sigh, massaging his temple and containing his frustration. It reminded Ryouga of when he tried to adopt a stray, feral kitten against the screams of his sister.

"Like I said, my family owns you heaps for the things you—ah, your friends, done. And we do oughta pay you back for some mishaps. Murdering us was a tad bit unnecessary, but I guess we got what we deserved on that." IV threw him another of his snooty grins. He tilted his head to the side slightly, smiling with his teeth, eyes pulled up like a starving puppy. "So what do'ya say, oh King of the Barian Emperors?"

It sounded too good to be true, honestly, and IV was aware of that. For some stranger—essentially, since they barely knew each other and most of that time was spent trying to kill one another—to come up to you and your posse with an offer of free housing and free food, fully paid; they don't need to worry a droplet of sweat over bills and overdue rent. Surely there must be a catch to such kindness.

Ryouga squinted his eyes. He tore his gaze away from the Arclight with a low click of his tongue, knowing this was an opportunity he couldn’t miss out on. Even if there was some fine print that IV wasn't coughing up, the thought of having a warm, safe, and dry place to rest felt… so nice. And for all seven of them too!

He looked back at IV. "Did you talk to the others yet?" He inquired as though their opinions on the offer would impact his own.

IV shook his head. "But I'm confident once their leader agrees, they'd line up in no time." He readjusted his grip on the handle of his umbrella when a sudden gust of wind blew over, ruffling up his hair in the process. He ran his fingers through the locks to return it to its riled state. "Rio would appreciate her own walk-in closet, and there's a vast library for your friend Durbe too. The basement has plenty of training equipment for Gilag and Alit—they'd like that I'm sure. Kaito and Yuma visit frequently."

"You sure are trying to sell your house as one-stop luxury, huh?"

His shoulders shrugged, causing the droplets on the umbrella to seep into Ryouga's space. "I just want you off the streets."

Lightning lit up the sky followed by the low rumble of thunder. The forecast called for rainy weather for the next several days, followed by enough sun to cause a drought. Awful weather followed by more awful weather, and it won't get any better for any of the former Barian Emperors.

"It's free."

"Yup."

"No catches?"

"No strings whatsoever."

"Rules?"

"Clean up after yourself and no indoor duels. I'm sure V got a thing or two to add but don't fret about that pompous bitch—even I don't listen to him."

IV concluded that he laid a good hit into the shark judging by his pondering expression. Knowing that he won, the man pulled away with a smirk, allowing Ryouga a day or so to consider the offer before making it official. The rain pounded on his umbrella as he stepped further into nature's forces, his knee-high boots stepping into the deepening puddles in the surrounding area. He barely made it a couple of meters before he heard a faint call from behind, barely audible by the skin of teeth due to the deafening background noise.

"I expect," demanded Ryouga with a shout, "to be treated like a king!"

He didn't bother to turn around when he heard that. Instead he lifted an arm up, mindful to keep it under his protective coating, then flashed his middle finger at the purple-haired, rock-alien gangster.

**Author's Note:**

> (\\_/)  
> — (o.o)  
>  (___)0


End file.
